Hypothetically, how would an immortal yet not unkillable individual who has no special powers other than abundance of time take over a kingdom, starting from the bottom?
How would you do it, /tg/?
>>45481878
fuck everyone. Now the population of the kingdom is just my offsprings
>>45482031
That doesn't necessarily mean they'd be loyal to you.
>>45482204
then you can tell them that you fucked their mom/grandmom/greatgrandmom, and after the horrific realization that yes you indeed did that they will be embarrassed and do what you say
>>45481878
Lie their way to the top. The best thing about being an outrageous charlatan with all the time in the world is that you can make up a new absurd identity once you travel under wraps far enough.
Google George Tsalmanazar for another good example of a masterful fraudster with no special powers.
>>45481878
Assuming you're eternally youthful, attractive and female, join the king's harem. Get passed along to each new king's harem, advancing in status as you go, from slave to mistress to queen.
>>45481878
>Hypothetically, how would an immortal yet not unkillable individual who has no special powers other than abundance of time take over a kingdom, starting from the bottom?
Very slowly.
You could become a blacksmith and slowly build up an arsenal for when an eventual uprising starts and then try to bargain your way into it.
You could dig a tunnel into the king's coffers and steal all its money, a coin a day.
You could try trick people into believing you're some kind of god...
>>45481878
Caution, travel to make sure you're aware of the best technologies and methods for just about everything, and compound interest rates.
>>45481878
first thing first, say that you are a half elf, hence why you don't age that much.
Secondly, start sucking dicks for favors.
>>45481878
The First Law books has a plot point revolving around all of this (spoilers ahead).
One of the major characters is a wizard, but his powers are HUGELY unreliable and he uses them rarely. Instead he creates a fucking bank and uses his subtle control over it while occasionally moving back into his chosen country to help shape it's culture in ways favorable to his plan. One other character is claimed later in to be a king's bastard kid and then later the asshole wizard admits that he's literally a nobody whore's child that he forced a noble family to adopt by threatening to foreclose on their loans and ruin their statuses and that he has a dozen more in reserve; he was just waiting to see which of the kids grew up to be the most "King-like" so it would fit his long-term plans.
When another character asks why he doesn't just use magic, he frankly answers;
>"It's just easier to get people to kill each other than to kill them myself."
Ok, there are a few things that need clearing up here, like whether memory degrades, and what actual assets you have (intelligence, beauty etc.), but here's a general answer.
Deal in secrets and knowledge. Become a myth as best you can, and learn things that people forget. Chart star patterns, and explore a bit. Invest in things (don't just rely on interest - inflation will screw you over. Invest in gold!) and build up resources over time. Deal in antiques.
When you've got the chance, figure out where the most soon-to-be-important person is, and befriend them. If you're besties with every prince ever, and you spoil them and tell them odd secrets, you'll acquire power pretty fast. Build up a mythology, and get secrets.
>>45481878
I would imagine that the best way would be economically. Invest in various industries. Hide your ownership. Over time, because you have that, you could slowly take over every industry.
You could preserve the perception of competition, while in fact holding a monopoly. You would be fine with 'your' companies competing, and even destroying, each other because you are not doing it for profit. You aren't even doing it for control, at that moment. Rather you are allowing them to behave as independent agents until the one day you decide it is time to take over.
Invest heavily in media outfits as well.
>>45484054
>You could preserve the perception of competition, while in fact holding a monopoly.
You don't need to. Guild monopolies were a thing in medieval times.
>>45484199
Best to have anonymity. In addition, this could take centuries to make happen.
But take a guild. Within a guild there would be competing interests. You would want to control all of them, while allowing them to continue to compete and act as if they are entirely independent (which they are, until you decide to act).
What you do not want to happen is for it to become known that Bob has taken control of guild A, now has most of guild B, and is even starting on guild C. Allowing competition helps to ensure that doesn't happen.
>>45481878
compound interest, a mastery of several trades (assuming the kingdom has heirachical guilds), and literal graveyards worth of dirt on every damn mover and shaker in the kingdom
>>45484054
So basically what non-immortal jews are doing in the real world as we speak.
>>45485119
Assuming there isn't an immortal jew behind them.
With an enormous amount of time, you could also study and master more things than anybody else.
So you could develop your own tecnology, and use it with more wisdown.
With this, plus money, taking a kingdom wouldn't be impossible.
Also, you could have disciples and put them (and their families) in position of power as time passes.
>>45481878
Why would I do that when I could be finding Pharod?
>>45482204
invent Confucianism first then
>>45481878
>Hypothetically
I read this as hypothermia for some reason.
>>45481878
1. Have a lot of kids. This will factor into later parts of the plan.
2. Accrue wealth by any means necessary, though legitimately as far as possible. Save, then invest that seed money.
3. Use your children as agents, grooming them and putting them in positions of power.
4. Co-ordinate so that your children and grandchildren are ensuring each other's (and thus your own) prosperity. By this point, this is your full-time role as the children are your main profit makers.
5. You now control the kingdom's economy.
>>45481878
Build a religion with myself as the son of god or some such
>>45487859
Doesn't work in a vaccuum, you've got nothing to offer your children and their children that they cannot also produce. Centralize the resources, and also promote division into smaller factions. Keep them operating in a cell-like structure, competing for resources assigned by you.
>>45487895
That certainly won't make you a target for execution or assassination.
>>45481878
Get a goddamned job in administration. Just become really, really good at it. Boring, but you have access to lots of information. Use that to advance yourself, make deductions. Study politics and rulership in your off hours. Take a while, but it'll be perfectly safe. Eventually you'll be promoted enough that you will have access to the king. And then, eventually have a childless king. Convince him to leave you the kingdom. After all, you're immortal and a superlatively talented civil servant. Kingdom couldn't do any worse.
>>45483802
Bayaz's powers aren't unreliable, they're just weakened. He's also a massive cunt.
Probably not so weak after the ending of the first trilogy, with access to the Big S.
>>45488017
indeed it did and I misread the OP
thought it said I would be unkillable
>>45488073
would* rather
>>45488068
Honestly, he's what most fa/tg/uys would be in that situation. Jolly and charming and really really pissed off when anyone defies him in the slightest because FUCK YOU I HAVE MAGIC POWERS and does anything to stay dominant.
>>45481878
More importantly, WHY would such a person try to take over a kingdom?
>>45481878
study everything and become the most qualified person through knowledge. or simply say "i'm 5 thousand years old, I know this shit wont work"
>>45488123He murdered Juvens in cold blood, betrayed and slaughtered the Maker to prevent his retribution, threw Tolomei off the tower because she was the only one who knew, lied to his closest allies, had his servants eat the flesh of men and steal their faces while also breaking the First Law.
Bayaz is literally Nagash tier and is pure evil. He has no redeeming features and makes Khalul look like a fucking rose in comparison.
>>45491799I didn't say he was a good person. I was replying to myself. But he's jolly and charming in the beginning. It's only as certain things happen that he reveals aspects of his personality. The entire series wasn't because of Khalul and his eaters. It was because he was slowly aging to death and his powers weakening. It certainly helped that Khalul wanted to gnaw on the bastard. Even at the moment of his triumph, he's only concerned about surpassing Juvens. I get it. I'm just saying that if you took your average fa/tg/uy and put him in that situation, he'd be a really nice guy - he could afford to be. RIght up until you challenged him. Then: Bayaz.
>>45485334
>Assuming there isn't an immortal jew behind them.
Which is a questionable assumption at best.
>>45481878
I like Griffiths plan from berserk.
>>45491826That's not what I'm commenting on; most fa/tg/uys lack that lethal edge or cruelty to do what Bayaz does. He's a CEO mindset, not someone who likes playing games.
Most fa/tg/uys would have just stayed being a part of the Magi. The act of tabletop isn't what lends someone a greater...Ruthlessness.
>>45492121
[tabletop]They'd adapt. I can't see Bayaz being that big a cunt when he started out, after all. People just want to see people who wrong them suffer, and in a world like the First Law trilogy? Yeah. [/tabletop]
>>45492132But that's the thing. Just like Varoslaf from the Shattered Sea, he's pure evil from the start. Bayaz never does a good thing in the book, hated Khalul just because Juvens wanted to teach other people and fucked the Maker's daughter because Kanedias wouldn't teach him. He's shit to the core, there never was any good there.
>>45492163f there was never anything worthwhile as a human being there, then we're talking about a massive failure in judgement by two of the original foursome in his character, his servants and Tolomei. We don't know enough to say conclusively either way regarding his early years.
>>45492205But he's a Machiavellian character, that's what they do in fiction. Plus, there's literally no way anyone could suspect a guy to be that much of a bastard, could they? His crimes start off minor and seem like bad decisions; all the truly horrendous things he did were done basically all at once, making it a lot easier to slip by.
>>45492235M-Type characters are a thing, but so is the slippery slope into damnation style character. Sometimes they even scream NOOOO. We really don't know enough. His early life is sourced primarily from himself. As is his middle years prior to the book.
>>45492248
Zacharias, Tolomei and all the Eaters give interesting testament. His final conversation with Mamun in particular is...Interesting.
>>45481878
The right question is, how would he rule it after taking it over?
>>45481878
Hard work and perseverance.
>>45492269
"Does it really matter?"
I know. But we just don't have enough information about anything else he did. Those acts are like staring at a halogen light; they'd blot out other things he might have done.
>>45487859
>Use your children as agents, grooming them
I just knew some sick fuck would turn this into magical realm.
>>45484054
Joint stock ownership is dependent on a political system that protects property rights. Otherwise you're just holding a meaningless piece of paper. Ownership is not the same thing as control.
Every generation or two, a political or military leader emerges who wipes the slate clean and leaves investors with nothing. Companies are nationalized or handed to cronies (which amounts to the same thing).
Many in the West think that money trumps power. That's because we have comparative stability and because "everything is about economics" theories are fashionable. But through most of history, power (law and military) is far stronger than money.
>>45481878
Why would he want to?
Being King is dangerous, arduous work. Over a century or two, he's almost certain to be assassinated. And for what rewards?
Truthfully, your best bet is as a senior, but obscure, administrator. You get almost all the perks at very low risk and when the country falls apart you can slip away for a few years unnoticed.
>>45481878
I would just act as a productive member of society and collect a vast wealth and reputation over time.
>>45491990
>>45493889
Because of blind, driving ambition.
>>45481878
Easy.
First I'd spend a century or so learning a ton of different skills and languages, then I would subtly start encouraging people to believe I'm a prophet of some kind.
I'd never say it outright, only go around helping people out and such because sooner or later people WOULD notice it and then I'd just let people draw their own conclusions.
